Rwanda Invokes WTO Procedure to Import Cheap, Generic AIDS Drugs

Rwanda has declared it will issue a compulsory license to purchase inexpensive, generic AIDS drugs. Over the next two years, Rwanda expects to buy 260,000 packs of TriAvir, a fixed-dose combination treatment that includes lamivudine, zidovudine, and nevirapine.

Under World Trade Organization rules, countries can issue compulsory licenses for generic drugs, but only after negotiating with the patent holders and adequately compensating them. A 2003 agreement allows poor countries to import the drugs from abroad if they cannot produce the medicines themselves. TriAvir is manufactured in Canada by Apotex Inc.

"Because it is not possible to predict with certainty the extent of the country's public health needs, we reserve the right to modify the foregoing estimate as necessary or appropriate," Rwanda said in a letter to the WTO. UNAIDS estimates some 190,000 Rwandans, or 2.1 percent of the population, are HIV-infected.

"Rwanda is making a bold move. This provision was set up to ensure poor countries get access to affordable medicines," said Celine Charveriat of Oxfam. The international aid group noted that developing countries almost never issue compulsory licenses due to pressure from rich governments acting on behalf of their drug companies. According to an Oxfam report last year, 74 percent of AIDS medicines are still under patent, while 77 percent of Africans still lack access to HIV/AIDS treatment.

Back to other news for July 2007